Census shows Garden State growing farmers

Shannon Kilpatrick and her friends were looking for a change, "something more than corporate America, something that we could own and love."

Three couples - all white-collar professionals - pursued their dream five years ago by starting Auburn Road Vineyards in Pilesgrove, Salem County.

Their 161/2 acres are among about 400 new farms that opened in New Jersey since the last U.S. Department of Agriculture census in 2002.

More than 10,300 farms were counted in the 2007 census, released this month. That represents a 4 percent increase over the previous tally and the greatest number since 1965.

"Despite the high cost and various challenges of being a farmer in New Jersey, the most densely populated state in the nation, we are seeing that the many benefits associated with farming close to where people live are attracting more people to farming in the Garden State," said acting New Jersey Secretary of Agriculture Alfred W. Murray.

Most of the farms in the survey - including Auburn Road Vineyards - are less than 49 acres, in some cases because larger farms were broken into smaller ones.

The new census also shows more farms run by women; the number of female principal operators rose from about 19 percent to 22 percent. Three of the six operators of the Salem County vineyard are women.

"Women are more involved for the same reasons men have gotten into farming," said Troy Joshua, director of the U.S. Department of Agriculture's National Agricultural Statistics Service in New Jersey. "They enjoy the lifestyle and the process. They want to smell the fresh air."

The new lifestyle has come slowly for the six partners at Auburn Road Vineyards.

"We have been transitioning" into the work of the vineyard, said Kilpatrick, 40, of Woolwich. "Each one of us has a niche, and we all have a true love of wine."

The vineyard's owners are an attorney, a financial adviser, a human-resources specialist, a color analyst for Xerox Corp., and two full-time mothers, Kilpatrick said.

But they are gradually devoting more time to the vineyard - much like the Weisses in Gloucester County.

"We decided we wanted to start a second career instead of retiring," said Leigh Weiss, 64, a professor of computer science at Rowan University who mulled over the options with his wife, Donna, an instructor in the occupational therapy department of Temple University.

They decided to buy 130 acres of preserved farmland in 2000 - Stillwater Farm in Monroeville, Elk Township - and build a house. They eliminated an aging peach orchard and planted a vineyard in 2003.

"We had a realistic view," Leigh Weiss said. "It wasn't just the money. We asked, 'What could we do that would give us an internal reward? What would make us happy?'

"We now have a little under six acres [of vines] planted."

The farming lifestyle also appealed to James Allen, a 27-year-old Tuckerton resident who is cultivating a very different crop: clams.

About two years ago, the former marine-biology student started "Just Diggin It," an aqua-farming operation that leases 10 acres of Dry Bay near Smithville to raise clams.

"I see it as a really fun living - not being in the rat race," Allen said. "You can't beat going out in the bay every day. I won't be a millionaire, but I won't be sitting in an office. You got to love being on the bay."

Allen is among the younger farmers in a state where the average age has risen from 55 to 57.

The census also showed that the number of Asian farmers has increased from 51 in 2002 to 89 in the latest census. What's more, the state's farmers are producing more crop varieties popular in the Asian community.

"New Jersey is becoming more diverse and specialized with higher-value crops to meet the needs of our state and region," Murray said.

While the number of farms increased in New Jersey, the amount of farm acreage decreased across the state from 805,682 in 2002 to 733,450 in 2007, the census said.

The largest decreases were in Burlington, Hunterdon and Sussex Counties. Part of that was due to development.

The only counties showing increases were Salem, Atlantic, Essex and Passaic. Some of that acreage was saved by farmland-preservation programs.

"Farming is a good life," said Kilpatrick, of Salem County's Auburn Road Vineyards. "Someday, I hope this will be our one and only job. This is not just a career change. It is a lifestyle change."